Israeli troops kill Palestinian farmer along Gaza border

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian farmer near the Gaza border, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. This is the first fatality since the latest tentative ceasefire agreement in August, when the 50-day Gaza war ended.

The ministry has identified the man as Fadel Mohammed Halawa, 32.
He was allegedly shot dead to the east of the Jabalya refugee
camp. According to the man’s relatives, he was out in search of
song birds, who inhabit trees located near the border. They are
said to be quite expensive in Gaza's markets.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra says the bullet hit
Halawa in the back and was most likely fired from a nearby army
watchtower.

Following the truce, there have been various outstanding issues
the two sides were set to discuss, but the deadline for the
discussion has been pushed back repeatedly.

The Israeli army has said that two Palestinians approached the
border fence in the Jabalya area and ignored calls to leave.

"Once they didn't comply, they fired towards their lower
extremities. There was one hit," a spokeswoman said.

The IDF said that its troops fired into the air first and then in
the direction of one of the Palestinians, hitting him.

The Army did not confirm the man's death, and it refused to
comment on the claim that the man was shot in the back.

Halawa is the first fatality since the latest tentative ceasefire
agreement on August 26, when the 50-day war between Gaza and
Israel ended.

Israel’s operation Protective Edge began in July 2014, when it
accused the Palestinians of firing rockets from Gaza. The firing
increased as Israel intensified its offensive on militant group
Hamas in the West Bank. After seven of its members died in an
explosion on July 7, Hamas accepted responsibility for the
initial air strikes launched from Gaza. The next day Israel
launched its military operation, moving into a ground phase on
July 17, which was accompanied by soaring fatalities on the
Palestinian side.

In the 50 days since Protective Edge started, the death toll
reached 2,210, the vast majority of the dead being Palestinian
civilians, including 577 were children, according to the
Palestinian Health Ministry. An estimated 20,000 homes were
destroyed in the process.

Palestinian statehood continues to be hotly contested by
international powers, with Israel refusing to budge and
continuing to behave in ways not conducive to mutual recognition
– chief among them the continued building of settlements beyond
the 1949 ‘green line’.

There are also immense human rights issues, mostly concerning the
often unprovoked, ill treatment of Palestinian civilians. Border
security, land and water rights are also very high on the agenda
for continued discussion, forming the core of the persistent
friction between the two.